Can't see that anyone has started a thread for these yet. Just picked up mine today so thought I might share my experience with the bike and anyone else that has one feel free to add your comments.
I got the bike this afternoon from Hamilton Honda - top people by the way. Then I rode across to Rotorua - first 120 odd km.
The thing that strikes me first about these bikes is how incredibly versatile they are. Sure that means compromise, but that's not a bad thing. It will happily sit on 120km cruise with little vibration. Position is comfortable on the road - seat a little hard but plenty of room to move around and change position. Maybe I will need some work on the seat for long distance riding. The screen is great. Actually better than my VFR. I'm 5'9" so just right for my height.
The handling and suspension are great (for a lower powered bike) on the twisty bits specially. The thing with a smaller engine you have to work it - and these enjoy being worked a bit. It's a very engaging ride when it's about riding rather than relying on power.
The biggest criticism of these that I've seen is why didn't Honda put a 300cc or 450cc engine in them? I think in a way that's missing the point. The bike is great fun to ride and more power would just mean more expensive to run. It's kind of getting back to the bikes of my youth - cheap transport that has a big grin factor. The bikes I remember most fondly are simple dual purpose bikes like an XL175 I had in my teens, and an XL250 Degree I got 15 years or so back when I got back into riding. The Rally captures the essence of those bikes but with a modern twist - ABS, decent suspension (compared to those older bikes), good cruising speed, decent range, while still having great fuel economy and being simple and relatively light.
The "Rally" name of course is just marketing. This is not a race bike by any means. It's more like a junior Africa Twin adventure bike. But I'd be way more confident taking this basically anywhere compared to a larger adventure bike. I'm hoping to get some more challenging riding experiences over the summer so I'll report back on how "Africa Single" goes.
I got the bike this afternoon from Hamilton Honda - top people by the way. Then I rode across to Rotorua - first 120 odd km.
The thing that strikes me first about these bikes is how incredibly versatile they are. Sure that means compromise, but that's not a bad thing. It will happily sit on 120km cruise with little vibration. Position is comfortable on the road - seat a little hard but plenty of room to move around and change position. Maybe I will need some work on the seat for long distance riding. The screen is great. Actually better than my VFR. I'm 5'9" so just right for my height.
The handling and suspension are great (for a lower powered bike) on the twisty bits specially. The thing with a smaller engine you have to work it - and these enjoy being worked a bit. It's a very engaging ride when it's about riding rather than relying on power.
The biggest criticism of these that I've seen is why didn't Honda put a 300cc or 450cc engine in them? I think in a way that's missing the point. The bike is great fun to ride and more power would just mean more expensive to run. It's kind of getting back to the bikes of my youth - cheap transport that has a big grin factor. The bikes I remember most fondly are simple dual purpose bikes like an XL175 I had in my teens, and an XL250 Degree I got 15 years or so back when I got back into riding. The Rally captures the essence of those bikes but with a modern twist - ABS, decent suspension (compared to those older bikes), good cruising speed, decent range, while still having great fuel economy and being simple and relatively light.
The "Rally" name of course is just marketing. This is not a race bike by any means. It's more like a junior Africa Twin adventure bike. But I'd be way more confident taking this basically anywhere compared to a larger adventure bike. I'm hoping to get some more challenging riding experiences over the summer so I'll report back on how "Africa Single" goes.
CRF250L Rally Thread
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